Paderborn, Germany, Nov 18, 2008 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) --
: Sagem Orga (SAFRAN group), a world leader in smart card technology, today announced a strategic partnership with BlueSky Positioning that will help the mobile industry overcome the key stumbling block to the success of location-based services - affordable, accurate positioning technology. Sagem Orga will partner with the mobile positioning specialist to integrate A-GPS positioning technology on SIM cards for the very first time worldwide.

Despite capturing the imagination of the global wireless industry, location-based services (LBS) have performed significantly below industry expectations for nearly 10 years. Even now the revenues from LBS are tiny compared to other next generation mobile services, and today's growth rates are not promising.

Sagem Orga and BlueSky Positioning believe that the key stumbling block to the success of LBS is that the positioning technologies have not been fit for purpose - technically or economically. The two broad technical approaches that can deliver the required accuracy demand either significant investment in networks by the mobile operator or the purchase of new handsets by the end user. Now a solution is being offered for the first time through the Sagem Orga and BlueSky Positioning partnership: the A-GPS SIM, enabling mobile operators to significantly increase the cost effectiveness of their services and size of their marketing target when launching new LBS.

Francois Blanchard, Global Account Marketing Manager at Sagem Orga, said: "The SIM is entering a new era where it can now be considered as a real service platform and a valuable device; the A-GPS enabled SIM card will reshape the way SIM cards are perceived by MNOs and end-users."

"We're delighted to be working with Sagem Orga to bring our exciting technology to market," said Risto Savolainen, BlueSky Positioning's CEO. "Since unveiling our technology concept to the world last year, mobile operators serving more than 1.8 billion subscribers have approached us to learn more. This announcement takes our patented technology out of the lab and puts it into the hands of millions of consumers around the world."

Sagem Orga and BlueSky Positioning's new approach incorporates a highly accurate GPS receiver and a proprietary antenna into the SIM card, enabling mobile operators to deploy both legally-mandated and commercial applications quickly and cost-effectively for all mobile handsets, with no need for software or hardware changes. To make positioning even more accurate and user friendly, the A-GPS SIM uses assisted GPS data.

The primary purpose of A-GPS SIM is to provide accurate positioning information of the phone to emergency services in case of an emergency call as required by E112 and E911 legislation in the EU and the U.S. respectively. In addition to this, it can support generic location-based services such as navigation, 'find a place or person' services, location-aware games, and many more.

This technology partnership with BlueSky Positioning is an excellent example of Sagem Orga's Partner Program strategy. The Partner Program aims to identify and collaborate with third parties capable of enhancing the product portfolio offering to network operators. Continually finding the right solutions externally and assisting in bringing them to market has become a crucial part of supplying SIMs and USIMs to network operators.

BlueSky Positioning
BlueSky Positioning Ltd was founded in 2005 to develop and commercialize accurate, affordable SIM card based satellite positioning products and services targeted for all GSM and 3G mobile phones. BlueSky Positioning has its headquarters in Luxembourg with subsidiaries in UK and France. Additional information about the company is available at www.blueskypositioning.com

Sagem Orga Sagem Orga is a pioneer and a global leader in the smart card industry. The company develops and implements cutting-edge technology to turn the vision of unbounded mobile communications and integrated digital security into a reality. Sagem Orga's portfolio includes hardware, software, consulting and services, all focused on smart cards for the benefit of consumers and providers in the telecommunications, health, identification and banking areas.

In the telecommunications sector, Sagem Orga's customers include the world's largest wireless carriers. Millions of people benefit from its custom-made solutions for GSM, CDMA and UMTS. With its security technology designed for the health, identification and banking industries, Sagem Orga protects people and their identities around the world and secures electronic communications between government agencies and the citizens and companies they serve. It offers solutions for biometric and electronic identification, electronic ID cards, health cards, drivers' licenses and cashless payment.

Sagem Orga has a worldwide network of subsidiaries, branches and sales partners as well as production facilities incorporating the latest technology in Germany, Brazil, Russia and India. The company has a workforce of over 2,100 people. As a subsidiary of Sagem Securite it is part of the international high-tech group SAFRAN, which generates annual sales of more than 12 billion euros with 57,000 employees in over 30 countries.

CONTACT: Mareike Blumentrath, Sagem Orga GmbH
Tel: +49 (0) 52 51 8 89 1216
Tel: +49 (0) 16 22 0 07 761
e-mail: Mareike.blumentrath@sagem-orga.com
WWW: http://www.sagem-orga.com
Katie Robertson, BlueSky Positioning, EML
Tel: +44 (0)20 8408 8000
e-mail: bluesky@eml.com
WWW: http://www.blueskypositioning.com
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